US Population is kind of unevenly spread across the continent and there are two opposite corners that are extremely densely populated – Los Angeles area and New York. I think it’s because of this density that NYC has it’s own energy and lives its own life. It’s funny and unexplainable, but everyone who has been there says that its a totally different city. Why so? The history? The population? The language dialect? Amazing, tempting and strangely familiar if you’ve been watching some popular TV series such as Gossip Girl.
Ok, so the rules of thumb start from NOT USING a car. If you are used to regular driving, and other people letting you in just after you’ve turned on your signal, you’ll get seriously surprised … and frustrated sooner than you think. One more thing … don’t take your hand from your horn… New Yorkers simply love to honk, almost like it was “Hi, how are you” , and don’t be offended, most of the times it should translate to: “Hi, I’m close, don’t be surprised”. Funny, but I can see that as a consequence of the city growing out of the proportion and Manhattan Island staying still the same size.
Some facts to make you realize how big of a city we’re talking about: City’s population is over 8 million folks. Which gives it a density of 10500 people per square km. This is a lot! The Metropolis is about 18 million people which is a half of entire Canadian population.
Why come to New York?
Well it’s a rhetorical question… Depending on what your desires are, you can spend all amounts of time and money shopping, entertaining, eating, sightseeing 24 hours a day. There are numerous and enormous books and guides you can buy all over the world about NYC, so I’m just going to focus on what I find very attractive about the city and whenever I’m visiting the Big Apple, I gladly come back to those places.
- Empire State Building – going up over 80 floors or over 100 for an extra $15 is an electrifying experience especially by night. Take a good SLR camera with a tripod and be prepared for breathtaking experience! If it’s cold outside or raining it can literally be breathtaking ;) I’m still coughing after that night but I don’t regret. So be warned :)
- Statue of Liberty – there are multiple options to see Ms Liberty – all of the water based ones start at Battery Park at the southern end of the Manhattan Island. If you don’t like getting stuck on the island for long, the best is to take a free Staten Island ferry that goes just by Liberty Island. You can make it in 45 minutes there and back if not less than that.
- Rockefeller Center is where you can buy gifts, have fancy coffee and take a picture at one of the most popular fountains in the world. There is also Radio City – one of the most famous music halls.
- Times Square– an intersection you’ll never forget – when you see it, especially after dusk. Seems to be the brightest spot on Manhattan with all the electronic billboards, neon lights and flowing rivers of people speaking all possible languages. It’s a perfect place to go to after a whole day, just to hang out, maybe have a beer, buy some cheesy souvenirs.
- South Street Seaport is where you go for a beer, food and some street performances. It’s a reconstructed historic maritime district, with its cobbled streets. It’s close to Ground Zero and New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, which both are worth seeing.
- Broadway Musicals – not everyone is a fan of those, but all of us heard of them. So why not treat yourself and see Grease or some other performance in their original location? Musicals are a great part of American culture and New York City is definitely in the centre of this term along with London in Great Britain.
- Central Park – an amazing and spectacular thing – an enormous chunk of land simply cut out of the skyscrapers area and turned into a park. Very popular one and present almost in every movie about New York. Definitely worth going to when you feel like taking a break from the loud city noises.
Getting in and out
Ok, so you want to get to New York… there are 3 big airports : JFK, LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR). On top of those there are minor airports as well as well as other cities. Sometimes it is a lot cheaper to fly to a distant airport and rent out a car one way to the city rather than flying to the most popular airports, especially when there are more travellers involved.
Some travelers take advantage of low-cost carriers that serve Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York, and Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York. Increased growth is also expected at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York.
The traffic can be a killer in that city so don’t trust your GPS timing unless you’re using train or subway. Getting to and from an airport can take you longer than you expected so leave early and have an extra coffee at the airport after your security check :) Unless you like a lot of adrenaline in your blood :)
Accommodation
You’ll quickly find out that NYC is not a cheap place to sleep at unless you’re staying 2 hours subway ride from downtown – which you don’t really want to do. So just be prepared for spending some more for your hotel and believe me, after walking most of the day, you will need a good night sleep in a comfy bad :) It’s a good idea to book a hotel in advance, especially when you’re arriving from abroad … in fact it’s a Homeland Security’s requirement.
Visit the photo gallery of my trips to New York.
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